Rules
by JessieBess
Summary: In every life there are rules that one is suppose to live by but Tom and Sybil don't always abide by those rules.


There were rules to being a servant, some explicit and some implied, some at the whim of the family one worked for, but all the same rules that were to be obeyed if one wanted to keep their position.

His prior position of chauffeur was much different from being in the employ of the Crawleys. Old Mrs. Carroll was a wealthy widow but not titled. She lived alone in an elegant home much like Crawley House or old lady Grantham's house, her sons all having emigrated to New Zealand or Australia and her daughter married and living in Dublin. While the house was very nice it was certainly nothing on the scale of Downton Abbey and the staff only numbered six including Tom. It was a much less formal house than Downton. Tom was amazed at the formality of Downton even among the staff where the servants used a strict name scheme and therefore he was Branson or Mr. Branson to even his fellow workers, never just Tom.

Most of his time had been spent driving Mrs. Carroll to her many committee meetings in the nearby village. Shopping trips were a rarer occurrence and would usually involve most of the day. Maybe it was because she lived alone but Tom found Mrs. Carroll liked to talk with him and their conversations made the trips seem shorter. Tom would often bring up for discussion something he had read in the newspaper. They had many lively conversations which Tom enjoyed although he didn't always agree with his employer but he was smart enough to know when to voice an opposing viewpoint and when to keep quiet.

Much of his first day at Downton had been spent with Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes going over what was expected of him, both as the chauffeur and as a Downton servant in general. As he half listened to Carson drone on enumerating the myriad rules of his new position, Tom couldn't help but wonder if he had made a mistake in coming here. "Do not speak to any member of the family unless spoken to first." "Never let any member of the family see you with your jacket unbuttoned or even worse without your jacket on." "Never appear before the family without your hair properly combed and groomed." The list went on and on. He was confident in his driving as well as his mechanical skills and thought isn't that all that should really matter.

His ears did perk up when told he could not go into the family quarters at all. He reminded Mr. Carson that his lordship had said he could use the library, a fact that Mr. Carson seemed none too pleased with and, as if to emphasize his exasperation, led to the recitation of even more rules. First and foremost was that he was to be consulted before Tom could use the library and if a family member should enter the library he was to leave at once.

It was only the second day of his new job when Tom met Lord Grantham's wife and two of his daughters. Word had been sent from Mr. Carson through one of the hall boys that he was needed to take Lady Grantham and her daughters to the village. Checking that his uniform was properly buttoned and his hair combed, Tom quickly drove to the front doors of the Abbey.

They must have been waiting for him for he no sooner stopped the motor car than the oversized front doors of the Abbey opened. Before Tom could get out and around to the back to open the passenger door, Mr. Carson was standing there beside the motor car with the three women trailing close behind him.

"Lady Grantham this is the new chauffeur Branson" Carson's deep voice seemed to boom in the quiet air.

As Tom reached out to take her hand to help her into the car, she looked at him with her striking blue eyes. "I hope you will enjoy the new job."

"Thank you my lady" Tom hoped his voiced concealed his surprise at the unexpected American accent of the lady of the manor.

As she settled into the car, the first of the daughters took Tom's outstretched hand with barely a glance at him. Carson did not announce the daughter's name. Tom wanted to roll his eyes at the daughter's lack of acknowledgement of him.

Standing there waiting for Edith to settle in, Sybil looked directly at the new chauffeur taking in how fine he looked in his dark green livery. She also thought he looked quite young for such a responsible position. What a change from dour old Mr. Taylor. When Tom turned his head towards her and offered her his hand, it was all he could do from breaking out in a broad smile for she was without a doubt the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. As she took his offered hand to help her into the car, she looked directly at him and smiled. "I hope you'll be happy here" she quietly said.

As he drove the ladies home from the village, Tom couldn't help but overhear their conversation.

 _Can it be my choice this time_

 _She always makes the same thig_

 _Something new and exciting_

 _So women's rights begin at home_

He discreetly looked at them in the rearview mirror, especially the younger daughter Lady Sybil. He was intrigued by her, not just for her good looks or the husky voice that sounded so appealing to him, but her demeanor set her apart from what he had expected of the daughters of an English earl.

Just a few days later, Tom found himself driving Lady Sybil to a dress fitting. Surprisingly she was alone.

" _Will you have your own way, do you think? With the frock?"_

The words had just sorta slipped off his tongue. Looking at her through the rear view mirror, seeing the bewilderment on her face, he had a moment of panic. Had he misjudged her? But then he found himself just babbling on. … _"it sounded as if you support women's rights . . ."_

Whatever hesitation she may have had, Sybil couldn't help but answer the young chauffeur.

It had only taken Tom a couple to days to break probably the cardinal rule of the house, to speak to a member of the family unsolicited. He had spoken to Lady Sybil and then compounded this grave infraction by giving her the pamphlets on women's rights.

* * *

It took about three weeks before Mr. Carson finally consented to Tom using the library. On his first visit, when he had been introduced to his lordship, Tom had quickly glanced around the room surprised at the volume of books sitting on the shelves. Now, alone in the room, he took his time to look about the room, taking in the richly paneled walls and bookshelves, the lush red couches with their stiff looking backs, the posh chairs and tables scattered about the room, the large fireplaces, he thought it was the grandest room he had ever been in. However, despite the elegant furniture, the rich tapestry curtains, the polished woodwork, it was the treasures contained on those shelves that most interested him. How could one man own so many books?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Could he have spent all his allotted time here admiring the room rather than picking out a book to take with him?

To his surprise it wasn't Carson that had entered the room but rather the youngest daughter of the house.

"I'm sorry milady" Tom began earnestly "Mr. Carson said it was okay for me to come here … that none of the family would be using the room."

She didn't seem surprised to see him and as she walked over to stand beside him, the warm smile she gave him caused his heart to leap just a bit.

"Actually I was standing up on the balcony and saw Carson bring you here. I'm so glad to see you because I wanted to thank you again for giving me those pamphlets."

Forgetting who he was as well as who she was, he returned her smile. "Have you found them interesting?"

Her eyes seem to light up at his question and she became quite animated when she replied. "Very much so. They've given me so much to think about. I'd like to be able to talk with you about ... well I have some thoughts and even more questions."

Before Tom could answer her, the door opened and this time it was Carson who entered the room. Spotting Lady Sybil, he frowned at Tom. "Excuse me Lady Sybil, I was told no one would be using the room or …"

Sybil quickly interrupted the butler. "It's quite alright Carson. I decided to read this afternoon and then realized that I didn't have anything to read. I was just asking Branson what book he was interested in reading but he hasn't made a decision yet."

Sybil's response didn't seem to soothe the butler who looked glaringly at Tom. "Well he'll have to wait for another time" Carson held out his arm as if ushering Tom out the door, a clear signal that Tom had to leave the room.

Disappointed that he hadn't been able to examine what books the library actually contained, Tom left empty handed. Yet that disappointment was tempered when he snuck a quick glance back at Lady Sybil who nodded her head and gave him one of her heart fluttering smiles.

Tom hadn't even been at Downton for a month and already he had broken several rules but he thought that with Lady Sybil he would be regularly breaking those rules.

* * *

Just as there were rules for the staff that served them, there were rules for the family. While of course the family members couldn't be fired for breaking those rules, there were other consequences some of which would be inflicted by the family and some by society.

It seemed that Lady Sybil had been testing those rules all her life. Why must she be content playing with dolls and make believe tea parties? Why couldn't she climb trees? Why couldn't she try catching tadpoles in the creek? Why couldn't she run barefoot on the lawn? Why couldn't she go to a real school?

The answers of course were always the same, she was a Lady and as such she was expected to behave as a Lady and Ladies didn't do … whatever it was she wanted to do.

But Sybil had learned from a very young age how to get around many of the bonds of her existence. Even at six years old she was quite adept at evading the nanny or sneaking out of the house. She knew if she waited Mary and Edith would eventually get into a fight causing the governess to intercede and she'd take advantage of the situation to flee the room. Or she'd claim that Mary and Edith were disturbing her and she needed to go somewhere else to do her studies.

One way of escaping was through books. As a toddler she would sit on her father's lap as he read to her. It was probably the only time she would actually sit still for an hour. Then as she learned to read she would spend time lost in her books. Through them she visited far-away lands or explored the oceans.

Although she was now a young lady, Sybil never lost her thirst for knowledge. She still found books as a way of escaping the confines of Downton. But now she had someone to share her thoughts with.

As she often did these days, Sybil found herself sitting in the garage talking to the chauffeur as he worked on the motor cars. Although much of their conversations centered on politics or women's rights, or society in general, there were days like today when the conversations would be about more personal things.

She paused to chuckle. "As a child I especially loved pirate stories. I'd roam the grounds pretending I was a pirate searching for treasure. You can imagine my state of dress when I came in. If Papa or Granny saw me I'd be banished to my room for the rest of the day."

Looking at her, Tom could picture a young Sybil with her hair going every which way and bits of twigs and leaves sticking to it, her fine dress smudged with dirt.

"I imagine it would have been fun playing here."

"It was. So many places to explore. Of course the downside was that I had to play alone. Mary and Edith were never interested in such things and there were rarely other children my age visiting."

When Sybil had talked about playing pirates, Tom had thought how much fun that would have been. How he and his friends would have thought they were in heaven playing in the creeks or woods of Downton in contrast to the dusty city streets of his neighborhood. Yet now he realized how lonely it must have been for her.

"What types of games did you play as a boy" she asked earnestly.

She laughed as he described his neighborhood pals and some of their antics.

"Weren't there kids from school or the village to play with" he asked.

"I wasn't allowed to go to the village school or to any proper school" she replied with sadness in her voice. "My education was from a governess which I'm afraid was sorely limited."

She stood up and paced around the garage. "I always wanted to go to school. I wanted to learn so much more than social graces and conversational French. I think that's why I read so much."

She stopped pacing and took her seat once again. "Tell me about your school."

Yes Lady Sybil had been breaking the rules most of her life. But now she had broken a much more serious rule. She had become friends with the chauffeur, in fact he was the closest friend she had ever had.

* * *

What had made him do it? It was probably the gravest rule he had ever broken. What had given him the audacity to actually propose marriage to her?

Tom couldn't imagine being away from Sybil for the two months she was at nurses training in York for somehow his friendship with her had turned into love, at least on his part. That he would fall in love with an English aristocrat was a surprise to him but then he'd remind himself that she wasn't like the rest of them.

That she was willing to become a nurse proved she was different. She hadn't made her decision lightly and she was serious about doing a good job. He thought it was typical of her that she didn't want any special favors or considerations because she was Lady Sybil Crawley and wanted to earn the respect of her instructors and fellow students on her own merits. She didn't want to appear out of place and had even learned some basic housekeeping (oh how his sisters would laugh that Sybil hadn't known how to make a bed) and cooking. He couldn't picture Lady Mary or Lady Edith in the kitchens working with Mrs. Patmore and Daisy but Sybil had done so and had seemed perfectly at ease with them.

He was sure she was in love him. After all, how frequently did she request he drive her to Ripon for shopping excursions where she'd return empty handed except for the occasional hair ribbon or book. He knew those trips were just excuses to be alone with him.

Or how frequent were her trips to the garage. Sometimes she had the excuse of reserving the car for herself or even acting as the middleman for one of her sisters or mother but in any case it was something that in Carson's ordered world should have been done through him. Other times she popped into the garage with no apparent purpose other than to talk to him and she'd sit at the work bench while he worked, or pretended to work, on one of the motor cars.

He was afraid that after her training she might be sent to a hospital in York or London or someplace far away. He couldn't let her go without voicing his feelings, he wanted to be sure she understood the depth of his love.

He had walked her into that courtyard full of hope. He knew he had no material things to offer her but he had himself to offer. He was smart and a hard worker and he had ambition. He'd make something of himself, he wouldn't always be a driver. He'd devote himself to her happiness.

He watched her pick up her bags and walk into the college building. He stood there alone for a minute or two before turning and walking out of the courtyard. He didn't see that she was standing just inside the doors watching him, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

He sat in the car trying to compose himself before beginning the long drive back to Downton. Replaying over and over again their conversation, he suddenly realized she hadn't said "no".

" _I won't be there when you get back"_

" _No, don't do that."_

" _I must. They won't let me stay, when they've heard what I've said."_

" _They won't hear. Not from me."  
_

Don't leave, don't be gone when I get back. For the first time since he had entered that courtyard he smiled. He had hope.

* * *

Strangely it was the war that gave Sybil a taste of the freedom she so craved. The war had given her the courage to look beyond the orderly life of Downton. For the first time in her life she had felt useful and, more importantly to her, she had found a calling. Now that it was over, she realized she didn't want to go back to the life she had before. She wanted to continue working as a nurse which was out of the question as far as her family was concerned for a Lady didn't hold a job.

The war had freed her from the social obligations she never desired. Her season had been the last one before the war. While she had to admit she enjoyed it, or at least she enjoyed the balls and parties and even the dressing up, she was glad she didn't have to attend any more seasons. She couldn't face dancing with men whose interest in her as a possible wife had to do with her looks, her position, her wealth and nothing at all to do with her hopes and dreams or her politics or beliefs.

She wanted a husband who wanted a partner. She wanted a man who treated her with respect, who listened to her, who wanted to know what she thought, who valued her opinions. She had found such a man in Tom.

They are all gathered in the drawing room in their after dinner ritual of having coffee or drinks. Only Carson is there to serve them. Her father stands in front of the fireplace talking with Matthew and Lavinia while Mary and Edith nervously glance between the clock on the mantelpiece and their sister.

Sybil sits on the sofa in the drawing room strangely calm although she knows in a few minutes that door would open and her life would change forever. She was making a drastic move and there was no going back once she'd done it. This was one rule that her family might not forgive her for breaking.

The drawing room door opens and Tom walks in. _"I'm here."  
_


End file.
